http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7101051Oh my.
The subway cat.
This isn't the subway cat's literary effort; it's an article the subway cat found.
undergroundpanther (1000+ posts) Fri Nov-27-09 09:46 PM
Original message
Fragmentation vs Wholeness: Why there is no sense of connection in America
Several times in my childhood, when I was 9, 14 and 17 years old, I remember going to Taiwan and that for some reason, around my relatives, I was able to be myself, speak my heart out and become very talkative......blahblahblah.....
http://www.happierabroad.com/ebook/Page15a.htm
virgogal (1000+ posts) Fri Nov-27-09 09:58 PM
Response to Original message
2. Sorry you've been so unhappy .
Go2Peace (676 posts) Fri Nov-27-09 11:05 PM
Response to Reply #2
15. You can be a totally repressed republican bot and think you are "happy"
think about that next time you think "everything in my world is ok" because you aren't feeling any "unhappyness".
By the way, the OP was linking to the post. They did not say they were unhappy.
The bobbling primitive, posting from the library late at night:
bobbolink (1000+ posts) Fri Nov-27-09 10:01 PM
Response to Original message
3. You so beautifully articulate what has been in my mind for quite a while now.
We misfits who really need connection are at a loss in this country.
A Fat Che plops up to the surface in the punch-bowl:
cali (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-29-09 04:43 AM
Response to Reply #4
49. no culture and no soul eh?
I spent yesterday at a holiday open house here:
http://www.oldstonehousemuseum.org /
It's in the middle of nowhere and it's magical.
A few miles down the road from me is this:
http://breadandpuppet.org /
And then there's this:
http://www.circussmirkus.org /
And so much more. All homegrown, local expressions of community and the arts in a very, very rural place.
http://www.circussmirkus.org /
undergroundpanther (1000+ posts) Fri Nov-27-09 10:37 PM
Response to Original message
8. I didn't write the story
I linked to an e book that speaks about the same issues I bring up here.
I was quoting the writer in my OP. I think he is right on target.It does feel like a prison here.
And all my life whenever I felt connected, and got"talkative"seemed people did not like it,specially my family.
Living this way has always felt like someone else a parent,'authority' or a bully who was resentful of me wanted to erase me.Make me into someone else suitable to be used for their own comforts.
Now, franksolich is mystified.
What is there useful, that the subway cat can possibly be made into?
I guess diesel fuel, because scientists have figured out how to make that from cats.
bobbolink (1000+ posts) Sat Nov-28-09 10:13 PM
Response to Reply #8
43. "Wanted to erase me". Exactly! Authentic people are a damned THREAT!
Lately, I've been thinking about the book, KNOTS.
Its brilliant and says a lot about all these things.
But its not in vogue to think or talk that way anymore.
undergroundpanther (1000+ posts) Fri Nov-27-09 11:01 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. Mental illness
Is VERY common in America.As is Trauma.1 in 4 girls are raped before age 18,often blamed for being raped.
Trauma, social control,stockholm syndrome twords bullies,authority figures and perps,and brainwashing go hand in hand to create a sociopathic nation of disconnected broken hearted bystanders, the mentally crushed,victims and victimizers getting away with soul murder.
Another Fat Che plops up to the top in the punch-bowl:
paulsby (1000+ posts) Fri Nov-27-09 11:44 PM
Response to Original message
22. you may feel that way in america, i certainly don't
i've noticed especially in small town america that there is a great sense of community.
what i see in your post is one person's experience and trying to extrapolate it to society at large.
i've traveled EXTENSIVELY. i frigging dig costa rica, france, mexico, canada, israel, and the UK
and i have to say that egypt and nicaragua are... interesting
maybe you just aren't part of something that makes a community. as a surfer, i felt a grand sense of community with all surfers, but especially those that shared waves in my area. ditto for my fellow strength athletes. it's a great community. we train together, suffer together, win together, lose together, eat teriyaki together, etc.
and yet again, another post (i was just discussing this in another thread) where the basic theme is 'america sucks and those other countries are just so much better'
yawn...
undergroundpanther (1000+ posts) Sat Nov-28-09 03:29 PM
Response to Reply #25
38. Not in my suburb
I don't know my neighbors except 1. I am far more 'radical' in looks and politics than anyone my age out here.I tend to have freinds in the twenty to thirty range.I think I relate to them because it is before job ,house,kids takes them over.
Now, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute here.
What happened to that one guy the subway cat insisted a few months ago was "it"?
cali (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-29-09 04:56 AM
Response to Reply #23
50. there is no study. it's the subjective experience of one person.
Ooops, another anti-subway catite:
proteus_lives (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-29-09 04:24 AM
Response to Original message
45. What a bunch of crap.
I've been aboard and it's a good experience but America is "soulless"? "uncultured"?
Biased nonsense.
More and more, "It's not my fault, it's the fault of society." bull.
"Each time I went back to the US, I felt depressed and insecure again. I didn't understand why, and it didn't make sense to me."
Newsflash genius, it's about you. Not the ground under your feet.
I read the essay and it's same "America is the land of barbarians" crap we all heard in college.
Here's a tip. Travel around America! We're a nation of 300+ million, hundreds of faiths, cultures and ways of living. You don't like where you are, then move. But the person next door might have found his bliss in the same place you spit on.
This author is a master of projecting and denial.
And then a shocking development; apparently the subway cat was hoping the other primitives wouldn't open the link.....
HamdenRice (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-29-09 07:06 AM
Response to Original message
54. While I agree with the overall idea of the OP, the link opens up to a world of batshit crazy!
Even a person with profound psychological problems can have good insights. But a simple google of the author of happier abroad, a guy named Winston Wu, opens up to a whole world of the bizarre -- Filipina hookers, on line libel grudge matches between computer geeks, halucinations, etc.
Here's a taste from Wu's "opponent" Stephan Muth:
http://www.winston-wu.com/background.html
Why does this web site even exist? In brief, Winston Wu was an employee of mine from November 2006 until March of 2007. He was fired due to mind-blowing laziness, incompetence, sex addiction and personal hygiene problems -- all exacerbated by mental illness(es). Since being fired, he has chosen to run an obsessive online campaign consisting of email stalking and posting incessant libelous statements about myself and my business wherever he can find a web site that will publish his rants.
According less biased sources -- including those who have employed him, dated him, or spent time with him in general -- he is a bizarre sex-addict 'loser' living with Narcissistic Personality Disorder in his own fantasy world of prostitutes, funded mainly by is father. Having started a 'family', he abandons it at every opportunity; at the time of writing (February, 2009), he has been overseas by himself for over one month. One can only hope that recent housing and stock market declines have stunted his father's future funding ability.
...
In March of 2007 I stepped back to look at my situation: I had an offensive (to myself, to others, in appearance, in smell, in attitude) man living in my house who paid little attention to personal hygiene; I was doing all nontrivial work myself; because of him I had a new bar girl (prostitute) in my house every few days. Worse still, all attempts at persuading him to moderate his behavior fell on deaf ears. And for this, I was paying good money. Although it was hard for me, I told him that he would have to leave if he could not change. He said he could not change, and left voluntarily but nevertheless bitter.
...
Some people do have genuine issues with Winston, however.
It's not that Winston Wu is a sex tourist disguised as a self-proclaimed 'spiritual' man 'seeking a fulfilling relationship'. Few sex tourists admit their real identities, even to themselves.
It's not that Winston Wu is the most extreme cheapskate tight-wad ever known. Spending wisely is a good trait, especially when the money is needed for prostitutes.
Perhaps it is his personal hygiene problems ranging from spraying urine anywhere but into a toilet, to leaving squashed feces on toilet seats, to people slipping on used condoms in his bedroom, to his bedroom stink keeping out even the housekeeper, to not showering regularly because he'll "only get sweaty again later"? Not really, since he lives in his own apartment now.
No, those aren't the biggest problems that people have with Winston Wu.
<end quote>
So eventually, "happier abroad" is about Wu's sex life with Russian and Filipina bar girls and prostitutes, as a way of overcoming shyness and mental illness.
Wu of course thinks Stephan Muth is a raging, psychotic, abusive employer.
Hey, it's entertaining anyway.
cali (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-29-09 07:17 AM
Response to Reply #54
55. I thought the OP was pretty lousy before reading this
yes, he has one or two valid points, but those points are valid for other cultures and they aren't universally valid as pertains to our culture.
HamdenRice (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-29-09 07:33 AM
Response to Reply #55
57. Wow! Dangers of linking without fully reading! The site is mainly about sex tourism and how many "gorgeous" "girls" Wu has "banged."
You don't even need the other guy's site to know that Wu is demented.
Not exactly the kind of source on which to base a critique of the culture of American late capitalism.
cali (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-29-09 07:36 AM
Response to Reply #57
58. yeah, the guy's foundation of connectedness is rooted in how many prostitutes he can ****.
HamdenRice (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-29-09 07:44 AM
Response to Reply #58
59. As I'm looking around the OP link site, yeah, that pretty much sums it up-Happiness through hookers
